Writing + Curating + Projects

10 years of exhibitions to the street

In 2003 artist Tony Twigg established the window venue SLOT with Gina Fairley, an independent space on the edge of Sydney’s gallery precinct, viewed 24 hours daily from the street. Its dense urban environment squeezed between a Thai restaurant, laundry, and at one of Sydney’s busiest commuter intersections, has forced a rethinking how we engage with audiences and communities.

“Some people tend rose gardens in front of their house, we give art to the neighbourhood. It is as though SLOT is their space, not mine,” said Twigg.

SLOT has presented near 200 exhibitions over the past decade, extending a definition of neighbourhood to the region by showing artists from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia back-to-back with Australian artists.

While this might manifest as a site-responsive proposition for an artist, it has also exposed new modes for connecting, be it the use of digital media to trans-locate an artwork as a set of negotiated or choreographed actions between artist and curator, or manipulating smart phone technology, for example, to push exhibitions beyond the glass vitrine to the pavement. What this modest gallery has illustrated is a willingness to allow a work to emerge out of experimental and collaborative processes and dialogue.

SLOT is not for hire. It is an independent non-commercial space. SLOT welcomes proposals from curators and artists.

SLOT is located at 38 Botany Road, Redfern. To view some of Slots more recent projects visit the gallery blog.